Spikes pitcher Paul Balestrieri finding success by playing within self

Just over a month since his college graduation, Paul Balestrieri already understands who he is — and who he is not.

Balestrieri is not a power pitcher. He will not be hitting triple digits on the radar gun and racking up gaudy strikeout totals, and he is just fine with that.

“The quicker I get the outs, the better,” said the State College Spikes’ right-hander, who starts on the mound Saturday night at West Virginia. “I don’t need to be striking everybody out.”

It is all about being efficient. With a heavy workload this spring as Cornell’s top pitcher, the St. Louis Cardinals wanted to ease their 26th-round draft pick into the rigors of pro ball and not burn him out with a season stretching into September.

“(He is) going out there and just learning how to prepare himself for a start,” Spikes manager Joe Kruzal said. “I think he’s going to be just fine. (Pitchers) want to get to a spot quicker than the process has them getting to it. If you sat down with him, I think he could tell you he can go nine innings right now. That’s just not the process of how it works.”

In five appearances, three as a starter, Balestrieri has pitched just 14  1/3 innings in the gradual transition. Nearly half of those innings were in his last — and, so far, best — start. Last Sunday he threw 73 pitches over six innings against the Brooklyn Cyclones, allowing just one run on six hits with two walks, three strikeouts and a hit batter. Unfortunately, the Cyclones scored in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Robbie Gordon for a 2-1 win and a no-decision for Balestrieri.

Regardless, it was a very efficient performance.

“Every start I have, I just want to get deep into games,” he said. “That’s huge for me. Ground balls, go deep into games and pitch as well as I can and let the cards fall where they may. There’s only so much I can control.”

Balestrieri led Cornell with 57  2/3 innings this spring, posting a 5-4 record and 2.18 ERA. However, to put it kindly, Balestrieri did not come from a baseball factory.

Cornell has fielded a baseball program since 1869 but has been in the NCAA tournament just twice. Just over a dozen alumni have made it to the majors, but none since World War II.

The rookie is undeterred.

“There’s Ivy guys that have made the big leagues,” said Balestrieri, who grew up cheering for the school after his uncle went there by following in his grandfather’s footsteps. “Not too many; not like an SEC-type deal where they’re rolling out guys to the big leagues. But it’s been done before. Why not one of us? There’s no reason it can’t happen.”

Now that he is here, the slate is wiped clean. As pitching coach Darwin Marrero pointed out, baseball players come from all over the world.

“It’s not about where they came from; it’s about what ability they’ve got,” Marrero said. “To move forward in this game, in this system, it’s not about where you came from, it’s about what you’re able to do, what you’re capable to do.”

Since the Major League draft began in 1965, only 15 Big Red players have been selected. However, a half-dozen have been picked in the last four years, including three last month — Cornell had not had two taken in one year before this season — and another signed as an undrafted free agent a few weeks ago.

The former college teammates are talking and texting every day, though the other three are out west. Balestrieri was thrilled not just to be drafted but to only have to drive three hours from Ithaca to State College; he is just 3  1/2 hours from his parents’ New Jersey home.

He has a four-seam fastball that hits the low- to mid-90s, and he also works in an occasional slider and changeup. But his top pitch is a sinker to induce a lot of ground balls — and be economical.

“He’s a kid who’s hungry to learn,” Marrero said. “He has a really good feel for the strike zone. He has a lot of quality pitches, change, slider, he’s a guy that likes to work both sides of the plate. He has some good ideas on the mound.”

It helps Balestrieri do what he does best, to be who he is instead of who he isn’t.

“If I’m getting ground balls, I’m doing my job,” he said. “If I’m not getting ground balls, I’m not doing my job.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Spikes pitcher Paul Balestrieri finding success by playing within self."